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British hopes of beating Argentina in the Davis Cup lay with Jack Draper after Dan Evans lost to Tomas Martin Etcheverry in Manchester.
Draper was rested for Britain’s opening victory over Finland at the AO Arena on Wednesday but took the number one spot for his country for the first time here and now must beat Francisco Cerundolo to keep home chances alive after Evans’ 6-2 7-5 defeat.
That would send the tie to a deciding doubles, with Britain knowing that victory would seal their place in the last-eight event in Malaga in November, but defeat could well mean elimination.
Evans was playing in his 27th Davis Cup tie, taking him into a clear second place in the British all-time list and his experience saw him given the nod ahead of Billy Harris, who impressed with victory on his debut on Wednesday.
It has been a difficult year for Evans, whose ranking has slipped to 178, and he could only boast one win in 2024 over a player ranked higher than world number 34 Etcheverry.
Had Evans managed to take any of four break points in a long fourth game at a noisy AO Arena, things might have played out differently.
But Etcheverry, nine years younger and eight inches taller than 34-year-old Evans, stood firm and then ramped up the aggression to win five games in a row.
Evans tried everything to find a chink in the consistent Etcheverry’s game in the second set, slamming his racket to the court in frustration after missing a return at deuce in the sixth game.
But instead it was Etcheverry who broke serve at 5-5 before surviving a rollercoaster final game to clinch victory on his sixth match point.
